Wednesday, June 19, 2013

iHEART Kenya



(1/4/13)

I can’t wait to go back! Really! This last month spent in the jungle/bush of rural Kenya, Africa was 3 and ½ of the best weeks of my life. I WILL NEVER FORGET. I love this continent but especially Kenya. I could go on and on about the many things that make Kenya my favorite country thus far on the race, the people, the scenery, the spirit of the land, the work of hope that I was privileged to be a part of . . . etc . . . etc . . . etc. However . . . my heart will never be the same because in month 4 of my World Race, I saw Jesus. He came in the form of service. He served me every day and blew my mind as to what service really is and what the heck it looks like when applied to your everyday life. He revealed himself by the love expressed by the darkest African man I have ever seen and his radiant smile that just asked to be a part of my day in service. By the little baby who ran all the way down the rugged path to just touch my garment, if not my hand. The woman who served relentlessly from the shadows, never expecting praise or thanks and always giving me this blessing without reason, other than the fact I came. All I did was show up, the service began at that point. I didn’t have to perform to be thanked, or speak sonnets of wisdom to be praised. By just being who I was, a very young missionary, that was enough for any moment. Jesus displayed himself early in the morning, setting off in protection to the far side hut and late in the evening, cleaning the mud from my American shoes that only reminded me of how ill-prepared I was for this blessed land. My inadequacies did not matter. My triumphs were just icing on the cake. Jesus served me last month in Kenya, not because I expected it or even asked for it but because He sees me as I am and He says that I am worth it. I want to be Jesus. As you can tell, my hosts blessed my heart in the most humbling month in the bush of Embloma, Kenya. They were to me as I stated above, Jesus in the flesh. If I can take one thing away from my experience in rural Kenya, it would be that if I am to show the world the way, the truth, and the life . . . I am to become the very thing that Jesus was, the Servant of all. (I never posted this because I felt it needed refinement and was not descriptive enough to do the month/country justice. I have changed my mind. I returned to Nairobi today for a connecting flight, on my way to Nepal and was reminded to finish this piece. Kenya, month 4 of my World Race, has hands down remained my favorite. I have several months to go and yet I know as surely as I sit on this departing plane 2 months later . . . I <3 Kenya.)

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